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tv   Andrea Mitchell Reports  MSNBC  May 16, 2014 9:00am-10:01am PDT

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hospital. >> what do you say to those veterans who said you of all people have abandoned them? have you failed these veterans? >> i took this job not to fail veterans. i came to make things better for them. >> they say talk is cheap. >> talk isn't cheap where i'm concerned. hillary clinton and chris christie fighting different political perceptions and attacks ahead of any public decision ahead of their futures. conservatives don't want to see either as commander-in-chief. plotting a strategy to prevent a clinton, christie or bush from taking up residence at the white house. happy friday, everyone. i'm kristen welker in for andrea mitchell. we begin with breaking news on the gm ignition switch recall with an announcement on a record
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setting penalty for the powerful car company. take a look. >> what we cannot tolerate, what we will never accept is a person or a company that knows danger exists and says nothing. literally, silence can kill. >> tom costello joins me now live. you were at the announcement the. what's the very latest? >> reporter: this is a $35 million fine, a penalty that gm has agreed to pay for failing to notify the government in a timely manner, we're talking about years of a serious defect involving the ignition switch. when it went into the off position or neutral position, the air bags failed to e deploy. it is now going to pay a $35 million fine. the d.o.t. would like to see that increased to $300 million for future cases, but that would
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be up to congress. $35 million is a drop in the bucket for a company the size of gm. but in addition it is agreeing to oversight as it relates to its safety processes nsds the company, which the government says were completely broken. people at the bottom of the organization all the way to the top knew of the safety defects and failed to do anything about it. failed to immediately discuss the potential for a recall. but given the severity of this issue with 32 crashes known, 17 known deaths, mounting lawsuits, i asked the secretary why the government isn't urging everyone who is still driving one of these cars to park them. >> we have, in this agreement, unprecedented steps that gm is agreeing to take and forced to take as a result of our work on the settlement. that includes accelerating and compressing the amount of time it will take to get the vehicles
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fixed. we do not possess the power to tell customers to park their cars. >> reporter: however, many safety ed a advocates are urgin people who may have not yet gotten their cars repaired to park them until the repairs are made. this is a bad year for gm. they have had 24 recalls so far. just another one yesterday involving another 2 million vehicles. they still haven't provided all the required documents to the department of transportation about the problems with the cobalt and the family of cars involving the ignition switch and air bags. they are still being fined an additional $7 million every day. kristen? >> tom, is there an expectation that they are going to turn over those additional documents that you just talked about? and look iing forward, what are the next steps you anticipate we're going to see here? >> reporter: there's an expectation thatly will come
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ply. this is a consent agreement. the next step will be to see whether the department of justice brings any criminal charges against gm. >> all right, tom costello, thank you for that breaking news. we appreciate it. political pressure is intensifying a day after veterans affairs secretary testified in front of a senate panel investigating allegations of major lapses in the treatment and care of our nation's veterans. today two more reports surfaced of v.a. hospitals using secret waiting lists for patients to improve wait time records extending the breach of trust beyond arizona to at least nine more states. jim joins me now from the pentagon. what's the latest about the instances of wait times and scheduling issues? >> we have been talking about this for a couple weeks now.
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once the initial scandal broke out of phoenix, there's going to be a constant drip, drip, drip, day after day, we'll hear about this hospital here, that hospital there because this is pretty systemic as many of the senators on capitol hill yesterday charged that the problems are deeply rooted in probably the most entrenched bureaucracy of all of the u.s. government and it's called veterans affairs. it's got everybody up on the hill totally frustrated. they were not satisfied with the secretary's answers yesterday. not only to speak of shin se i can but the inspector general. for example, when asked, have you ever dealt -- have you ever issued any kind of punishment to any of these employees? and the response from the v.a., you know, we actually remove 6,000 people from their jobs. then the question was, were any of them actually fired? and the answer was, well, we
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don't know. so that's one of the problems. the veterans affairs because they are dealing with the veterans and america's sacred oath to take care of our veterans, they feel that they are impenetrable to any kind of outside influence. that's been going on for years. >> and jim, let me pick up on that. "usa today" had this op-ed. it said, at thursday's hearing e he said he's awaiting results from an investigation of the phoenix v.a. and his own nationwide audit. to save his job he will need to act more decisively than he has if the parade of negligence and death is to be stopped. you were in that hearing. you also interviewed the secretary. did you get the sense that he understands the gravity that "usa today" just mapped out, that that's what his charge is moving forward? >> he's a smart guy. i followed him for years.
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i think he understood the gravity immediately. but i think he, too, just like everybody else who deals with the v.a. is just as frustrated with the bureaucracy as anyone else. the one thing that did come up is there were questions about criminal conduct and whether criminal -- whether the fbi should investigate. the i.g. has now agreed to work with civilian law enforcement people to see if there were any laws broken. from the very begin ining if th allegations are true at some of these hospitals, at the very at least it appears that there may have been fraud, theft and even obstruction of justice. every one of those a felony. but then again asked whether anybody has been criminally prosecuted for these kinds of offenses in the past, blanks. there's no indication that the v.a. itself ever had the ability or perhaps the desire or drive to take care of the problems within its own ranks. >> you have been on top of the
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story from the beginning, we appreciate that, thank you. a massive new round of evacuations is ordered as wildfires are blamed for one death and destroying homes. fire crews near san diego are battling several fires throughout that county. take a look at this. winds have been fueling the flames even spawning firenados, which are funnels of flames. joe fryer has the very latest on the fight to contain these. >> reporter: the may fire storm has claimed its first life after a body was discovered. to the east a fire that started in san marcos has spread to neighboring escondido. >> three big black clouds of smoke and it took off like crazy. >> reporter: this is the county's number one priority. a destructive enemy to devour a
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large home and to break a family's heart. amanda and stan rented a hill top house with a priceless view for three years. >> our patio deck. >> reporter: they evacuated an hour before the flames took everything. >> it just makes you think of all the times together. >> reporter: we were there as the fire chewed through another hillside inching right up to a fence, the only barrier between rows of apartment buildings. >> now we go live to jennifer be jork land. what's the latest there? i understand there have been some arrests. >> reporter: there have been some arrests. they are perhaps unrelated to any of these particular fires that have been burning in san diego, but two teens were seen by some passers by setting fires, allegedly, and the people who saw it happening called
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police. police tracked the two teens down. 17 and 19 years old. but there's no word that there's any connection between these fires and those two arrests. still, it's suspicious. this entire week has been so volatile as far as fire conditions go here in san diego county that that kind of behavior can't be tolerated. at this point, the most dangerous fire, the san marcos fire, that left more destruction overnight was a very hectic fire fight overnight. this morning things have calmed down a little bit. the winds are supposed to shift to ocean breezes later on today. we're hoping that's the case. cooler temperatures in the forecast, that heat advisory was cancelled. weather conditions look like they are turning and possibly the fire fight as well. things should get a little easier to get the upper hand on some of these fires.
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this one is 10% contained. >> jennifer, thank you for that report. we appreciate it. the desperate search to find more than a dozen men still trapped in a turkey mine still continues today. 284 people were killed after an electrical fire spread toxic gas through the mine on tuesday. anger directed at the prime minister over the inability to keep mines safe is building all across the country. officials say the mine was inspected 11 times but that isn't preventing frustrated residents from protesting in cities throughout turkey. and stay with us here on msnbc. coming up this hour, a milestone 60 years since the landmark brown v. board education. we'll speak with a leader on this very important anniversary, which is being celebrated all across the country. er reliefche. they work just as fast and taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm. amazing. yeah, i get that a lot.
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nigerian president today sc cancelled a trip to the school where the girls were kidnapped more than one month ago. the visit was called off amidst security concerns. so what are you hearing are the specific reasons for why the trip was called off? there's already so much frustration with the government and their lack of response, their failure to respond immediately. i can only imagine that this has added to the frustration there. >> reporter: yes, i'm afraid a lack of communication today as well. all they said at the very moment when he was due to be taking off for the village was that the visit was cancelled due to security concerns. and that was that. no other information. that has not gone down well
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here. the president coming in for great criticism on social media. i have to say the handling of this whole issue was, well, not great right from the beginning. at the very least unwise and at the very worst deeply wrong. first of all, he announced that he was going into this village on friday morning, deep into boko haram territory giving the militants plen ty of time to se up an ambush if they wanted to. then he simply said, it's cancelled due to security concerns. that's not going down well with people in that area who for the last few years have lived with attacks, can't even stay in their villages, have to sleep in the bush at night. they are not very impressed on his decision not to go. he took three weeks to make a public comment about the abduction of the girls. now has he not only decided not
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to go, he hasn't even set foot in the state where this village is. so i think here was his chance to show a caring, compassionate side to show that he felt the pain of the parents whose daughters are still missing. instead i'm afraid what's come across as the same indifference, almost callousness that this president has displayed since the beginning of this tragedy. >> that is stunning that he has not yet even visited. he is going to fly to paris for a meeting with u.s. officials, officials from britain and france, to discuss their coordinated efforts to fight boko haram. u.s. officials are saying at this point they are not very impressed with the coordination. what do we anticipate will come out of this meeting, if anything? what concrete developments can come out of this meeting? >> reporter: well, the french president has called this meeting. it will be, as you say, attended by representatives of the u.s., nigeria and its neighbors.
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it's designed to come up with an action plan to tackle boko haram and terrorism in general in west and central africa. what the french are hoping they can do is that the borders between many of these countries can be sealed off more effectively to prevent the terrorists bringing weapons and men through. and also that there would be intelligence sharing. so far, for example, there's absolutely no dialogue between nigeria and cameroon according to one french diplomat quoted today. so that would be the aim of this submit. but the nitty-gritty on the ground, the army says they are searching for these girls, but yesterday it fired the head of the army in northern nigeria for incompetence and there's still absolutely no proof that the search is even going on. certainly not yielding results. so the nigerian government and
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the nigerian army come manager for really heavy criticism both here and abroad. >> to follow up on that point, bill, u.s. officials expressed deep concern yesterday about the nigerian government's capacity saying that even with this international help, it doesn't appear they are being very effective. what are the major sticking points in terms of the nigerian government working with the international help that's there and is all of this just creating an atmosphere of nigerians being very skeptical about whether the girls are going to be able to be found? >> reporter: that criticism from washington by the pentagon's top africa official was front page news here in nigeria today. not only did she criticize the army's seventh division, that's the group that is leading the search for the girls or supposed to be leading the search for the girls, but she actually said that nigeria was proving to be an extremely difficult partner
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to deal with. that has not gone down well here. it splits up into two issues, if you like. there's the nigerian army on the ground and then there's the international cooperation. the u.s. has dozens of people here now work iing on this as wl as manned and unmanned aircraft. the uk has special forces people here as well as offering a plane. canada, france and so on. so there are dozens of officials from six foreign countries trying to work with the nigerians, but off the record briefing that we are getting is that they are not getting the cooperation from the nigerians that ideally they would like. so a lot of criticism of nigeria from abroad. >> thank you for your reports, bill. we appreciate it. we have new disturbing video from western syria.
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you're watching a bomb destroy an army base. it took rebel forces months to build a tunnel running thousands of feet beneath the base where they planted tons of explosives. no reports of casualties. we're getting the latest look at what's left of the neighborhoods in the embattled city of homs. most have been reduced to rubble after intense fighting. the terms of the most recent brokered cease fire allow residents to collect any possessions that might have survived and grants them safe passage. we'll be right back. cars are driven by people. they're why we innovate. they're who we protect. they're why we make life less complicated. it's about people. we are volvo of sweden.
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her last day on "the view." let's share our view. joining me now is chris solis is a and columnist ruth marcus. thank you for being here. ruth, i will start with you. hillary clinton joking about taking some time off. she did take some time off, but she's back out there. you have karl rove going after her this week. the momentum is mounting. >> she department take very much time off, let the record show. the momentum is mounting and the pace of her responsiveness is mounting. think about how quickly the clintons as a couple responded to karl rove's suggestions that there was some hillary clinton brain damage that might interfere with her ability to run for president. >> we have some live pictures of former secretary of state clinton at an event in washington right now. chris, i'm going to toss it to you. there was some laughter there, but i don't think republicans
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are laughing too hard. according to the latest poll, she trounces jeb bush in ohio, marco rubio, ted cruise. republicans starting to get nervous? that's part of why you're seeing karl rove go after her in the way he did. >> two things are happening. you're right, i think republicans understand that if she does run and doesn't have a serious primary challenge and both of those things may happen. i think she's likely to run. she would be able to build a lot of momentum, message wise, money wise, going into a general election against anyone who is nominated. the only other thing i will say, though, the polling here is hillary clinton as we currently remember her, when secretary of state and largely gracious loser of the 2008 election. if and when she announces for president and goes through that process, even if she doesn't have a serious primary, history has shown when she is becomes a
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pl political candidate her numbers tend to go down. this happens to everybody. she's at a little bit of an artificial high. my guess is she would start up a few points on whoever republicans nominate, but i'm not sure right now a number in ohio is all that telling. i don't think she's going to win ohio. >> ruth, i want to look at a slightly different topic. you had conservatives meeting yesterday talking about the fact that they feel as though their conservative principles have not been highlighted enough in 2014. they are concerned about it ahead of 2016 particularly on issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, immigration. what do you make of that and what do you anticipate the e reaction will be? if you look at the primaries, you actually have establishment republicans winning in the special election in florida. >> i think the two topics tie together. they are very much about an
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anxiety within the republican party, about who its leadership it and anxiety about what the republican party is, so republicans are pretty much favored to take over the senate in 2014 after the november elections, but if they take over the senate, who will they be? will they assert a more patrolmatic working with president obama on immigration reform, or will they tow more of the tea party line? that's really going to be where the energy of the republican party is going to be after the elections especially if there's a republican victory in the senate and it's going to be where there's an energy in the republican party without a clear front runner. the disparity between the two parties overwhelming favorite, hillary clinton, if she chooses to run. wide open, no clear front runner choice in the republican field. that should make republicans of any stripe nervous. >> chris, let me just get you to
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weigh in on that. ruth talks about the anxiety within the republican party. the fact that there are still these warring factions, is this smart politics you have them reasserting their conservative values ahead of 2014? ? >> most of the time history shows that the party who is not in the white house has the sort of factional battles. the establishment has fought back after some bad losses in 2010 and 2012. this will go on through the 2016 presidential nominating process. i think once the party settles on someone, they are likely to rally around that person because whoever it is, that person will be more appealing to conservatives than likely hillary clinton will be. but does having a meeting and saying we want to be heard more mean that much? frankly, no. the way you insert influence is win elections. so conservatives need to win elections. matt bevin doesn't look like
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he's going to beat mitch mcconnell next week. i think june 3rd, circle that date. thad cochran goes against chris mcdaniel, who the best chance of a conservative alternative tea party sort of candidate ousting a sitting incumbent. that may be their best chance. you have to win to have a voice within the party. >> chris, i want to talk about a topic we addressed yesterday. the ongoing fallout from "the new york times" decision to oust jill abram son. there are a number of things that led up to the decision, but it now appears that discussions about her compensation was among the issues that set the stage for her oust. talk about the optics of this for "the new york times." >> well, look, what i don't want to be seen is as stirring it up of a competitor. the reality of the situation -- >> go ahead, chris.
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>> i know ruth is going to stir it up. >> i read a piece in the new yorker. that's a really tough piece with all of the salary information that she was paid, what other people were paid. this is the problem with dismissals. it's rarely a clean break. several people said you should give jill the worst week in washington. number one, she lives in new york city. but i don't know that the times has had a great week from a public relations perspective. the handling of the salary and compensation question seems at best, at best confusing. >> and ruth, i know you want to weigh in. >> if you've got an executive editor, the first one in your history that's a woman and you're paying her less than a man and then you decide to get rid of her shortly after she complains about that, that is, to me at the very least, an
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atmosphericics problem and potentially a legal problem. >> who gets the worst week in washington? >> as between jill abramson and "the new york times," it's a tie. i'm going to give it to "the times." >> chris, you want to give us a preview? >> i'll give you a preview. i went totally different. steve israel, chairman of the democratic campaign committee because their big candidate in florida, they got a candidate in, he dropped out eight days later. whoops. >> great preview. >> thank you so much for a great discussion. the fragile situation is making daily life extremely difficult for people there. a new report details an increase in human rights abuses including abductions by both sides. and reports today highlight the rise of citizen patrols across the region financed by wealthy
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ukrainia ukrainians. reporters on the ground indicate a weakening presence. we will have much more news right after a quick break. in the nation, it's not always pretty. but add brand new belongings from nationwide insurance... ...and we'll replace destroyed or stolen items with brand-new versions. we take care of the heat, so you don't get burned. just another way we put members first, because we don't have shareholders. join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪
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unionize without anything coming back to harm us. >> it's supposed to be just a starter job. it keeps you trapped here because you can't venture out because you're not making enough. >> i have a family and i have to support them. if i don't do this to get minimum wage higher, how am i going to get it? >> thousands of fast food workers turned out in 50 cities across the country and 30 countries around the world on thursday in the largest protest yet calling for higher wages.
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the average worker makes about $9 an hour, which adds up to less than $19,000 a year if they work full-time. that is below the poverty line for a family of three. joining me now for more on this is msnbc critter maria kumar. thank you for being here. you have this ground swell of support for increasing the minimum wage. 50 states across the u.s. but also in other countries. is this going to pressure congress to act? it doesn't seem like they are closer to doing anything on increasing the minimum wage. >> they recently had the opportunity to vote on it and decided against it. the problem with a lot of these jobs when people talk to congressional members, it shows how out of touch they are. they say these are starter jobs, teens taking these jobs at fast food restaurants and moving forward. the majority of fast food workers are single moms and they have to work one or two jobs in order to make ends meet.
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so what you're starting to see is the states are taking control. ten states have passed. increasingly you're going to see these types of legislations passed whether it's minimum wage, family paid leave act, whether it's actually looking at gay marriage, why? the states realize that congress is not taking action so they have to address them at the local level. >> the white house wants to see it it increased to $10.10. some said we might be able to do a compromise around $9. would you support that increasing the minimum wage a little bit if you could get something through congress even if it weren't the full $10.10? >> even for president obama to say $10.10, he was looking at $9. and that basically what they did is they created an opportunity for the republicans to come up a little bit more with $9 minimum wage. i think that for every american
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that's working tough minimum wage jobs saying, even a dollar increase is better than nothing. >> let's switch to immigration reform. here's what president obama had to say about that. then i'll get your reaction on the other side. >> we've got this narrow window. the closer we get to the midterm elections, the harder it is to get things done around here. it's hard to believe that things could get harder, that this place could get more dysfunctional, but it's just very hard right before an election. so we have maybe a window of two, three months to get the ball rolling in the house of representatives. >> and then just a day later, you had actually some conservative groups coming forward including the tea party express saying that they did want to see some movement on immigration reform. but it seems like it stalled. are you hopeful that's going to get done?
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>> we have basically two and a half week window. >> wow. >> if we don't have it before congress goes out of recess in july, we're basically going to have to start all over. the midterm elections happen and the legislation that was passed in the senate becomes obsolete. you have a lot of members of congress going into their destructs, talking about it, the fact that the tea party came out and said they were many favor of comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship is a big deal. now making sure that boehner has not only the votes but the wherewithal to say, look, you have people from the most extreme parts of your party saying we want to pass immigration reform. >> but is comprehensive immigration reform realistic, or to more think you'll see piecemeal. >> you'll see piecemeal approach on the house side. that's fine because you have a comprehensive already on the senate so during conference you can basically piece everything together and have something that
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will address the issues of national security, fair wages and also this whole idea of pathway to citizenship. >> i think we just got video of president obama, who is visiting the shake shack here in d.c. where they do pay a higher wage. so just to go back to where we started, the white house continues to do its push for this, and yet it's a steep climb. >> it is. there's a lot of argument whether or not if you actually increase the minimum wage whether or not people are going to lose jobs. the cbo came out saying about a million jobs will be affected. that's because a million people that are right now holding off on retirement, they could actually retire. that's one of the things we're talking about. what kind of standard of living are you offering the american people and not having to work one or two jobs that basically are equal to a full-time job. >> let me get your thoughts.
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we are approaching the 60th anniversary of the supreme court ruling brown v. board of education. ucla just released a new study that finds that african-american students are seeing the most racial segregation now than they have in past decades. your reaction to that and where do you think the country has gone wrong in terms of not making enough progress? >> unfortunately, this is another decision from the supreme court. it came out in 2007 that said schools no longer had to bus individuals and they didn't have to do policy integration. unfortunately, that basically allowed parents to go, we're going to go to the best schools. often times those are white children that can go to the best schools whereas african-american and latino kids are stuck many poverty-stricken schools. the average white child gets $700 more in their educational system than the latino our african-american. the problem with that is that as we continue to diversify as a country, we need to make sure that everyone has an equal
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playing field. not for just communities, but our economic engine. >> thank you so much. we will be right back. a, they think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. when jake and i first set out on we ate anything. but in time you realize the better you eat, the better you feel. these days we both eat smarter. and i give jake purina cat chow naturals. made with real chicken and salmon, it's high in protein like a cat's natural diet. and no added artificial flavors. we've come a long way. and whatever's ahead,
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60 years ago tomorrow the supreme court unanimously ruled in the landmark brown v. board of education decision case. it was a major step forward for civil rights in the u.s., but a new report shows some of that progress is slipping. joining me now is dennis parker, the director of the aclu racial justice program. so want o get you to respond to an aclu study. we just talked about it. the integration of american schools is being thrown in reverse and latinos are the largest minority at this point, but more than half of black students attend schools where 90% of students or more are
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minority. how would you assess the progress since brown v. board of education? >> it was centuries of discrimination so you can't underplay that. there was a system in effect and that's unconstitutional. so that decision is important. since that time, i think we have moved backwards. we haven't shown the dedication to fulfill the promise of brown. we're seeing that reflected in the numbers that show greater segregation. the fact is we still live apart. there's still economic factors. there's still discrimination, which separate us and all of that is reflected in our schools. and i think it's to the detriment of the whole country. >> you talk about living apart. arne duncan talked about that. i want you to listen to what he had to say and get your reaction on the other side. >> school integration reflects housing patterns.
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when we choose to live closer to each other is our schools reflect that. >> so your reaction to those comments and also what can be done to bridge the gap. >> my first reaction is, yes, he's correct that the segregation in the school reflects housing segregation. the question of choice is a complicated one though. i think that segregation is not the result of people making choices voluntarily. there's still discrimination in housing. there's still factors whether it's mortgage discrimination, a whole range of things that affect housing patterns. those are not all voluntary, but they have enormous impacts. where you live has an impact on your opportunity. >> one of the things we're also seeing is this is regional. in other words when you look at a place like new york, you're seeing more segregation. but west virginia actually has the least. so what do you make of that? is this an east/west/south
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divide? what do you make of the gee g f geographical disparities? >> it's the effect of the school desegregation cases. there was a period for desegregation were in the south. that's because those were the states that are laws that required segregation. those were the states where lawsuits were brought. those were the states where the schools were forced to desegregate. that wasn't the case in most northern states with some exceptions like colorado. so as a result, those states desegregated. the states where there's the strongest housing segregation, new york, illinois, continue to have segregated schools because of that. >> and the first lady is going to be speaking to graduating seniors in topeka, kansas, this evening. what would you like to hear from her when she addresses the students? >> i would like to hear her stress to the country the importance of having diverse
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desegregated schools. the importance of preparing students to live in a divers environment. to be able to compete in the world, to recognize that we have to educate all of our children and we have to live together as a country. >> all right, dennis parker, thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate it. great insights. >> my pleasure. >> on our website, the legal defense funds writes about the fight for equality 60 years after the historic supreme court decision. she'll take your questions. go online to read her column. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses. if you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom.
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please welcome the amazing, the fabulous, the woman who hired everyone at this table, the amazing barbara walters! [ applause ]
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>> what a moment. so which story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? you are looking at it. barbara walters retiring. ruth marcus is back with us, the other one and only. >> not quite. >> thanks for sticking around. incredible moment there on "the views." the end of an era. >> and really an amazing era. you and i will be lucky if our careers last anywhere near that long. >> absolutely. >> or anywhere near that productive and end on such a note of competency and hustle. it was just a few weeks ago i was watching barbara walters hustle to get the interview with v. stiviano of the los angeles clippers fame. i love people who are working hard until the end of their -- this phase of their careers. >> she worked hard from day one. let's take a look at her very first "today" show live. >> barbara is with me right now
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to give us a filmed report. was this a very trying experience for you? >> it was awful. first of all, every day i had to go and look at fashion shows. and then i had to have lunch at maxines and drink champagne. it was so trying that i took absolutely the very last plane i could to get back here today. >> she was talking about paris fashion. she had it from the beginning. she's a real pathfinder for women. >> absolutely. you can tell the difference that women have traveled pr the nature of that piece. she was being very good natured about it, but those were the days when sexism wasn't something subtle or underground. it was rampant and over and she really opened a lot of doors for a lot of women in our business and beyond. >> we just saw some of the women who she opened the doors for in that picture there right there. incredible. that party they had for her,
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savannah guthrie was there. ruth, thank you pr helping me. congratulations to barbara walters. although we don't believe you that you're retiring. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember to follow the show online, on facebook and on twitter. ronan farrow daily is up next. have a great weekend, everyone. of complete darkness. i am totally blind. i've been blind since birth. i lost my sight to eye disease. i lost my sight in afghanistan. and it doesn't hold me back. but my blindness can affect my sleep patterns. i go through periods where it's hard to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. but i learned that my struggle was with non-24.
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creating these problems. suggestions that there could be weapons stockpiled. a massive bomb under a military base. more fallout from the firing of jill abramson. >> i can't think of a senior male executive that's been fired on character grounds. >> a lot more people are watching idaho's race for the republican nomination for governor after this televise ued debate. >> i don't like political correctness. can i say this? it sucks. >> what would you do if they came out to take your kid. i'd shoot them. >> i'm as politically correct as your in a punch bowl. >> it is may madness,